The Budva branch of the New Serbian Democracy (NSD) praised the Ministry of Public Administration for, as they said, its clear stance that local government bodies that do not act in accordance with the law will face legal responsibility, and said they believe that the relevant minister, Maraš Dukaj, "will remain consistent with that stance and that the same standards will be applied in the case of Budva."
"These days we are reading a statement from the Ministry of Public Administration stating: 'The Ministry of Public Administration remains consistent in implementing the law, protecting the constitutional order and preserving the democratic legitimacy of local self-government bodies, and whoever does not understand this or does not want to apply it will face legal responsibility for their actions.' In this context, we would like to remind you of Article 56 of the Law on Local Self-Government, which stipulates the imperative obligation for the mayor to have a vice-mayor. The Municipality of Budva does not have a single vice-mayor today, which directly violates the imperative norm of the law," the statement reads.
The Budva NSD asked whether it is an imperative norm for the Budva Municipal Assembly to have 33 councilors. "If it is, how is it possible that the Budva parliament has been functioning with 32 councilors for more than a year, with the obvious obstruction of the formation of the Municipal Election Commission by the Budva Municipal Assembly," they added.
They point out that, according to Article 35 of the Law on Local Self-Government, the assembly is a representative body of the citizens of the municipality and is composed of councilors elected by the citizens. "In the case of Budva, a direct attack was made on the electoral will of the citizens, because the Assembly is not composed of all councilors elected by the citizens. The citizens of Budva are thus deprived of their legitimate representative in the House of Representatives," say the NSD.
They also asked whether the mayor of Budva Municipality was elected in accordance with the imperative norms of the law. "Was the Budva Municipality Temporary Locations Program adopted in accordance with the law or does it represent a gross and conscious violation of regulations? Is it acceptable in the local self-government system for a municipality not to answer questions raised under the Law on Free Access to Information, which the ministry is familiar with," the NSD added.
They also remind us of Article 67 of the Law on Local Self-Government, according to which a municipality can have a maximum of two vice-presidents. "The Municipality of Budva currently has none. In a previous period, the Municipal Assembly was warned about the municipality's functioning without a vice-president, who was then appointed after a warning from the Government, only to be later illegally dismissed."
They also asked why "the raid on the Municipality building and the illegal election of the vice president were not stopped at the proposal of the competent ministry", and "who will bear responsibility for the violations of the law whose epilogue we had in the administrative court".
"Finally, we would like to remind you of Article 60 of the Law on Local Self-Government, which stipulates that the mayor is accountable to the Assembly for performing tasks within his or her jurisdiction, and to the Government for tasks transferred and entrusted to him or her. Is it acceptable for the mayor to prohibit access to the Old Town, to state property managed by the Municipality, thereby clearly abusing the given powers, and for the competent authority to remain silent about it? The question of all questions is: Is the silence of the Ministry of Public Administration in the case of Budva an imperative norm and whose? We could talk more extensively about imperative norms and their systematic violation in the Municipality of Budva, but the key question remains: will the law be applied equally to everyone, or will it continue to exist as a political pamphlet," the statement reads.
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